Women's swimming sets seven URI records in meet

02/25/09 - The University of Rhode Island women's swimming and diving team traveled to Buffalo, N.Y., to compete in the Atlantic 10 championships at the Flickinger Center from Feb. 18 to 21. The Rams finished 10th in the A-10 conference tournament with a score of 157. Despite the last place finish, Rhody set an unprecedented seven varsity swimming records at the event. In addition, out of the 44 swimming events, 95 percent were either lifetime bests or seasonal best times.

"It went extremely well," head coach Mick Westkott said.

Sophomore Lilli Falconer lead the way for Rhody, securing second place finishes in two separate events, a feat that has not been accomplished by a Rhode Island swimmer in nine years.

In the 200 yard individual medley, Falconer broke her year-old record twice in the same day, first in the morning during preliminaries and second during the finals in the evening with a time of 2:03.60. Falconer accomplished the exact same feat in the 400-yard individual medley, clocking in at 4:22.73.

Falconer saw another record of hers broken during the event, this time by teammate and fellow sophomore Kinsey Tarbell. Tarbell secured a fourth place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.13.

Tarbell added another record breaking performance in the 100-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 52.33. The previous record was set in 2000 by Briana Kells, and at the time, it was good enough to secure second place in the A-10 race. Tarbell's time earned her a distant 11th place, showcasing the increasing speed of the A-10 swimmers.

"That's how fast it's gotten," Weskott said. "There's no question it was the fastest A-10s we have ever been a part of."

Senior Kelsey Foye rounded out the individual records, adding a time of 10:29.10 in the 1,000-yard freestyle.

Rhody earned a pair of record-setting relay performances as well, one in the 200-yard medley relay and one in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Freshman Katie Mangano, junior Maura Zenski and sophomores Alexandra Lalli and Melissa Flynn teamed up for the 200-yard medley relay and earned a time of 1:47.62.

Falconer and Tarbell, as well as seniors Foye and Tracey Cannon were all a part of the 800-yard freestyle team that clocked in at 7:37.94.

Eleven Rhody swimmers qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference invitational that will be held at Harvard University this year. Freshmen Jennifer Lopez and Katie Mangano will represent the Rams.

Westkott said he and his staff had never planned to attend the meet due to budget and academic concerns, however, this year with the meet being so close, he left the option open to the qualifiers.

"These two [swimmers] came out of this weekend feeling really good about themselves and they just want to see if they can go faster," Westkott said.

This meet also serves as the first time the women have competed at the A-10 tournament without their male counterparts.

"[The team] really missed them and we dedicated ourselves to swimming fast for them," Westkott said.

Looking forward, Westkott said Rhody has secured the commitments of three incoming swimmers and has begun to build the recruiting class of 2009.

For the current swimmers, workouts start back up again in March after the end of Spring Break and Weskott said he is looking forward to training for the upcoming season.

"We're going to miss [the seniors'] fun and leadership next year, but we have a solid group of juniors and maybe even some sophomores who can step up for us," Westkott said.